Jacqueline Baldassari
Jacqueline Baldassari was a contestant on Season 11 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 13th place. Personality Jacqueline was a very inconsistent performer in the kitchen despite most of her teammates claiming that she was a strong link, and was often clueless in the kitchen She also did not care about the competition, and showed very little passion throughout the competition, which lead to her elimination. Despite this, she formed an early friendship with Nedra. Season 11 Episode 1/2 When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, Ramsay surprisingly told them to meet him in Las Vegas. When he did, Jacqueline was very excited, hugged Amanda, and declared she was about to lose her voice. Arrived there, they were greeted by showgirls, got on a double-decker bus for a tour of the city, and eventually got tricked in believing they would go on a Las Vegas 4D experience. However, they arrived in front of a live audience, where Ramsay was waiting for them. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Jacqueline was not expecting to be cooking as she was wearing a dress and wedges. She was the last person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Zach. She presented a roasted margarita duck breast with sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, which had a good presentation and seasoned beautifully. During deliberation, Ramsay said that her duck could have been done with two minutes more. In the end, she won the round over Zach by an edge, and clinched the victory 5-4 for the red team. They were rewarded with a night out in Las Vegas, meeting Celine Dion, and get VIP tickets for the latter's show. The next day, during prep, Jacqueline was asked by Gina what did she miss, which she answered that the latter missed everything. During dinner service, she was on the appetizer station with Nedra. At one point when Mary was struggling to keep up, she was seen not doing anything and just looking for her water bottle, while saying that Ramsay was stressing her and that she was looking to relax, annoying Nedra. When she was drinking water, Ramsay asked her what she was doing, and she answered that she was getting her water bottle, before being the fourth person from the red team to be kicked out of the kitchen. She was not upset about it as she saw that as an opportunity to rehydrate again. Back in the dorms, she was annoyed by Danielle saying that she never worked in a brigade before as she was knowing that already. The red team eventually won the service. Episode 3 The next morning, some soldiers from the US army came in Hell's Kitchen, went to the dorms, and gave a very brutal wake up call to the chefs by screaming and yelling to get up. When the teams were challenged to climb up the wall, at one point, Jacqueline was pushed to the ground by Zach after the latter lost his balance. The red team managed to get 31 lobsters in their bucket, compared to the blue team's 37, but fortunately for them, that was only the first part of the challenge. During the Lobster Cleaning Challenge, Jacqueline was on her own. She scored the third point for the red team, and another near the end. The red team won the challenge 11-8, and they were rewarded with a day on a 85-foot luxury yacht, a master sushi chef preparing them lunch, and a massage. During dinner service, Jacqueline was on the garnish station with Jessica. She was not seen at all, and the red team was eventually kicked out of the kitchen after a lot of mistakes. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 4 The next morning, all the chefs went outside for the next challenge, and saw Ramsay, dressed in a running suit, and a lot of runners waiting in front of a start/finish line. He introduced the HK3K Service Challenge, and when he asked for a volunteer from each team to run the course, Jacqueline raised her hand, but she was not chosen. She was not seen much during the challenge, but the red team eventually won the challenge, and were asked to go help the blue team finish their entrées. They were rewarded with a day at Temecula Valley's Wine Country for wine tasting and making, and flew on a private jet to get there, which she felt like a G6 about, as she never went on a private jet before. During dinner service, Jacqueline was on the meat station with Danielle. When service began, she expressed excitement when she saw Kristi Yamaguchi in attendance, but later, when she and Danielle were ready with their chicken order, Ramsay rejected it for being raw, much to Mary's dismay. Ramsay schooled both of them for that mistake, told her and Danielle to wake up, and that serving raw chicken was the one thing not to do in a kitchen. Then, she asked for somebody to slice her next attempt at the chicken as her hands were too dirty, and received help from Nedra, while declaring she was stressing like a motherfucker. When she sent her second chicken attempt to the pass, it was accepted, and the customers were enjoying their entrées. The red team eventually lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Jacqueline was considered by Susan and Amanda, but she was defended by Nedra, who thought she was strong as a motherfucker. Later, she agreed with Nedra on nominating Jessica for her lack of confidence. Jacqueline was not nominated for elimination, but she was eventually called down by Ramsay, stating that she could have killed someone by serving raw chicken, and she joined Danielle and Jessica. Ramsay called her "Ms. Pink Chicken", and during her plea, she said that she was born to do that, which Ramsay responded by asking that she was born to cook pink chicken, but she insisted that she was born to cook and that she was deserving to be there as she cared a lot to be. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she acknowledged that she dodged a bullet. Episode 5 While going back to the dorms, Jacqueline felt like a giant pile of shit after having survived, declared she thought she was going home, and that she would never let that happen again. During the Protein Identification Challenge, Jacqueline was paired with Ja'Nel, and they were the first and last pair to compete for the red team. On their first turn, they landed on the turkey meatballs, and they succeeded to correctly identify the correct protein on their first attempt. On their last turn, they landed on swordfish & chips, and she was not worried about anything as there was so many white fish they could choose from. They chose catfish, cod, and halibut, before correctly guessing swordfish on their fourth attempt, clinching the victory for the red team 6:37-10:33. They were rewarded with a day at Malibu, in a $15M beach house, as well as getting there in convertibles. During the reward, Jacqueline tried the wakeboarding activity with Laird Hamilton, and said it was very easy until when she tried to stand up, which was the moment when she fell in the water. During breakfast service, Jacqueline was on the pancake station. On the first order of pancakes, she needed three minutes, while declaring it was easy, but she messed her first one, trashed it, and gave five minutes instead. Ramsay reminded her it was only a breakfast, Nedra offered her help, but she answered that she only needed her pancakes to be cooked. Then, she used a rubber spatula to flip her pancakes, but Amanda and Nedra told that she could not, sent her pancake, and with Nedra's help, they pushed out their dishes at a good pace. Later, she was given clear instructions by Amanda, but her second order of pancakes was too dark, and Ramsay angrily tossed it in the bin. Because of that, all the women grabbed a pan and started to cook pancakes to help her. Near the end, she burned another pancake, and because of that, the red team did not sent their last ticket before the blue team, therefore losing the service. They were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Jacqueline was considered by Amanda and Cyndi, with the latter saying that if the pancakes were properly done, they would have killed the blue team. Jacqueline was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Mary being the second. During her plea, she said that she had the knowledge and power, which Ramsay responded by saying that she had the power of burning pancakes, which was the easiest dish. She also blamed Nedra for not being able to flip a pancake. She survived elimination. Episode 6 During dinner service, Jacqueline was on the dessert station. She was not seen much, except at one point when she acknowledged that the pork Mary and Nedra sent to the pass was raw. After a lot of mistakes, the red team was kicked out of the kitchen, both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. During deliberation, Jacqueline declared that the meat station, referring to Mary and Nedra, were the obvious nominees. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 7 The next day, both teams went in the dining room, where Ramsay introduced the Chinese Dish Creation Challenge, along with the Samurai statue that was placed there. When the countdown began, everybody ran to the plate of fortune cookies that was in front of the statue, but when they arrived, it started moving, making everybody flinch and laugh. Then, Sous Chef Andi brought the red team's basket of giant fortune cookies that would be carried with chopsticks, and during the first part, Jacqueline volunteered to be manning the board, along with Ja'Nel, as both of them were the most comfortable with Chinese cuisine. In the end, they only put four ingredients to five of the six dishes, and they were accused of blowing it for the red team by Mary and Cyndi. During the second part of the challenge, Jacqueline was responsible for the fried rice course. She was the first person from the red team to have her dish judged, she presented her firm tofu with chili peppers, scallions, rice wine vinegar, and beet sprouts, but Martin Yan revealed that it was the first time he tasted fried rice with rice wine vinegar, it was praised for working, and she won the round over Dan. The red team lost the challenge 3-4, and they were punished by cleaning both kitchens for the next service, as well as making pot stickers and steam dumplings from scratch, and eating balut eggs for lunch, which disgusted her. During dinner service, Jacqueline was on the fish station with Jessica. She was not seen much, but at one point, she thought that Jessica's mess was because of Susan's inaccurate timings on meat. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate their two weakest chefs each. During deliberation, when Nedra reminded that Jessica threw at least ten pieces of fish in the garbage, she defended the latter by saying that it was because of the refires, before considering Susan for her bad communication. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 8 The next morning, both teams went to the dining room, and they were taken outside by Ramsay, who introduced the Farm Animal Challenge. During the first part of the challenge, Jacqueline was the last person from the red team who entered the pen, and she chose a goat and pasta combination. During the second part, she was not seen much, but she expressed dismay when she found out that her pasta was still raw, and she volunteered to sit out as she was not confident in her dish. The red team won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with a day at the Aquarium of the Pacific, as VIP guests. During the Family Night dinner service, Jacqueline was on the fish station. On the first ticket, she was still not ready with her scallops when everybody else was ready with their own food, so she was pushed by Ramsay to go faster, and when she sent her scallops to the pass, they were rubbery. Ramsay berated her for that mistake, reminded that she had the easiest appetizer, she was disappointed in herself, and the red team had to start the entire order over. When the red team moved on to entrées, she had good communication with Mary as she gave six minutes on her scallops, and after the red team served all of their tickets, they were asked to go over to the blue kitchen to help the men out, and the service was completed. The red team won the service by a mile. Episode 9 The next morning, both teams went to the dining room, where Ramsay introduced the Steak Creation Challenge, and when the Sous Chefs brought the planks of meat cuts, Jacqueline revealed that she was watering in her mouth. During the challenge, she was the fourth person from the red team to have her dish judged, presented her rib cap with black garlic and lemon zest, which was praised for being fragrant, and she tied the round with Anthony. The red team won the challenge 4-3, and they were rewarded with a day by the pool at the Wilshire Hotel, with a 360 degree view of Los Angeles, as well as a manicure and pedicure, leading Jacqueline to say to Ramsay that she loved him. During the reward, she acknowledged that Nedra was the one who needed a pedicure the most as she looked like she walked through the desert for a thousand years. During the Steak Night dinner service, Jacqueline was on the meat station with Amanda. She was assigned as the driver of the station as Amanda was not totally confident in herself, and at one point, she expressed dismay over Mary's slider being returned for having hair in it. When the red team moved on to entrées, she acknowledged that she and Amanda were having a lot of pressure as they were on meat, did not want to be yelled at by Ramsay or Amanda second-guessing herself, but both of them were not doing anything as Susan was slicing the prime rib, and when she told Ramsay that they were waiting for Susan, he called the entire team down, and Susan revealed that she was not asked to stop serving entrées, much to Ramsay's frustration. After delivering perfect steak dishes, she did not communicate well with Mary as she did not heard when the latter announced that the sea bass was ready, and when she sent a filet mignon, it was raw, and she and Amanda were berated by Ramsay for fucking up the easiest cut of meat. She declared that she would never trust people again as Amanda did not know her meat temperature, and after receiving help from Nedra, and when she served her second attempt at the filet mignon, it was still raw, and Ramsay slammed the counter five times in frustration. Because of that mistake, she was kicked out of the kitchen, along with Amanda, Nedra, and Cyndi, and back in the dorms, she was accused of letting Amanda fail by Nedra, but she refused to take responsibility for Amanda's failures. The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Jacqueline was considered by Nedra for constantly having a laid-back leadership when assigned as the driver of a station, but she retorted that she could not do that much alone, and that Amanda fucked up the filet mignon, which was not a complicated thing. Then, she considered Mary for the hair incident, which she called a disgusting mistake. Jacqueline was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Amanda being the first. During her plea, Ramsay told her that it was her worst performance at that point, and she retorted that she was a better chef than Amanda as she stayed focused, but Ramsay reminded that she sent a raw filet mignon despite knowing it was raw. She was eliminated for her laid-back behavior and disintegrating performances. Ramsay's comment: "Jacqueline talked a good game, but unfortunately for her, I need someone who can deliver." Nomination history Trivia *Since Barrett did not come back for the last dinner service of the season as supposed to, she was slated to take his place, but also not return so Dan took his place. *After her appearance on the show, she became a Catering Chef at Sodexo, working at the College of New Jersey. Quotes *"I'm stressing like a motherfucker!" *(After being eliminated) "I think Chef Ramsay made a huge mistake. I'm extremely proud of myself in everything that I do, and I don't need some guy that screams at me to tell me that I'm a good chef. I'm gonna keep going on, and I'm gonna keep cooking, and it's what I want to do with my life, and I love it." External Links * Category:Chef Category:Season 11 Category:New Jerseyans Category:13th Place